Sunday, January 01, 2006
Dangerous Ideas
Every year, on New Year's Day, Edge publishes a new edition of it's World Question Center. The idea is to ask the same broad, open-ended question to a hundred or so top intellectuals in various fields, and see what they come up with.
The responses are usually a pretty interesting mix of ideas. A number of them just use it as an opportunity to push the same ideas they've been peddling in their latest books. But there are always a few ideas that I find new and profound. And a few people who strike me as very confused. But your mileage may vary.
This year's question is "What is your dangerous idea?":
The responses are usually a pretty interesting mix of ideas. A number of them just use it as an opportunity to push the same ideas they've been peddling in their latest books. But there are always a few ideas that I find new and profound. And a few people who strike me as very confused. But your mileage may vary.
This year's question is "What is your dangerous idea?":
The history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially, morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time; the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions are the most obvious. What is your dangerous idea? An idea you think about (not necessarily one you originated) that is dangerous not because it is assumed to be false, but because it might be true?
